Smash Brothers One Half
by Shritistrang
Summary: The heroes have become pretty used to Smash Tournaments by now... but when the next tournament comes up, their children will be the ones that dominate the battles. Featuring Ranma, son of Bowser, and Akane, daughter of Luigi.
1. Kidnapping a Princess

When Ranma woke up this morning, he was thrown out of his room and into the hot pool of lava down below his window.

A short moment afterwards, he resurfaced, his pigtail dripping with molten magma. "What's the big idea, Pops?" he angrily yelled as he shook his fist, looking up to his window, where the burly form of his father had just appeared. "What did ya do that for?"

"Boy, I did that as part of your training." Bowser, king of the Koopas, looked out of the keep's window, down to his eldest son. "You need to be prepared for an attack at all times. Keep that in mind if you want to be the same great ruler I am. Your castle can always be under siege."

"You mean, a couple of plumbers could sneak past the Thwomp and firebar defenses," Ranma grumbled. The eldest koopa prince stepped out of the lava and wrung out his pigtail. For a royal koopa, the youngster was pretty fit and slim, standing taller than all of his siblings (hairdos not included) and almost as large as his father.

"Details, details," Bowser sighed as he waved his large hands around. "But you see, something like that can always happen. And you need to be prepared for that. Some day, you will go and kidnap your first princess. You will thank me for my training methods when the day comes. Now come up and get some breakfast. After that, we'll meet in the dungeon. Iggy set up a new obstacle parcours, Bullet Bill blasters included."

Ranma sighed as he began to walk around the Koopa Keep. Every morning was the same. The old man would wake him up by making him part of his new training routine, every time claiming that this was part of his new 'masterplan' to defeat the Mario Brothers.

Sheesh! The last time the kingdom had been under assault by the plumbers had been years ago. It had become unusually quiet in the Dark World. The guards had nothing to do and some were even showing signs of boredom. When Ranma walked up to the front gate, the Koopatrol guard on duty just gave him a weary salute and leaned back against the wall. "Same morning routine, Highness?" he asked.

Ranma nodded with a sigh. "Same as every morning. Say, um…" He tried to remember the Koopatrol's name, but it was just impossible with so many subordinates to remember the name of each and everyone."

"It's Bob, Highness!"

"Bob… why don't you go inside and take a break? I doubt anything is going to happen today. Nothing ever happens…"

Bob shrugged. "No can do, Prince Ranma. Your father's orders: We are to keep guard of the castle at all times, twenty-four hours a day."

Right. Why would his father improve the labor conditions of his troops? With a weak nod, Ranma just walked past the Koopatrol, pushed the main gate open and made his way to the royal dining room.

When he walked past the kitchen, his heavyweight brother Roy came stepping out, munching on some Dino Rhino spare ribs, his favorite snack. "Yo, bro!"

Ranma frowned at him. "You left me some, right?"

"Um… sorry Ranma, but those were the last ones. Hey, but you know what they say: First come, first served!" He grinned.

Whoever knew the royal Koopa family also knew their infamous battles for food. With so many siblings, there was barely enough to keep everyone satisfied. Not wanting to eat the leftovers, Ranma jumped at the sunglasses-wearing koopa. "Gimme those!"

"No way!" Roy protested. He held the ribs close to his body and began running down the corridor, with Ranma hot on his heels. However, both of them knew that Roy wasn't exactly the fastest koopa around, and Ranma's training allowed him to keep up with all of his brothers. From behind, he jumped on top of Roy's spiky shell. "Give me those Dino Rhino ribs, Roy!"

"Not this time, Ranma!" Roy shouted as he pulled his head, arms and legs into his shell and started spinning. Just like a spinning top, he ricochetted off the walls, taking Ranma, still sitting on top, with him. They zoomed past the rooms of their brothers Larry, Lemmy, Iggy and Morton.

"Hey! Roy got his hands on Ranma's dino ribs again!" Larry chuckled as he watched the spectacle. "You wanna bet he'll get them back in five minutes?"

"I'm betting 5 gold coins that Roy is gonna throw him off before that," Morton smirked.

"You're on!" Larry grinned.

Just before Ranma and Roy managed to get past the last door in the corridor, it opened, revealing the only female member of the family. "What's all this racket in the morning?" she shouted. She then saw how her two brothers came in her direction at full speed. She grinned. "Oh! RANKO! You're just in time!" She giggled and reached under her shell. She pulled out her magic wand, spun it around and created a bubble of water out of nowhere… a bubble of COLD water, which promptly splashed Ranma in the face.

The black-haired, second-oldest koopa prince instantly transformed into the red-haired, oldest koopa princess, gasped in surprise as she was splashed in the face, lost her hold onto the spikes on Roy's shell and fell down, right in front of her sister's door.

Wendy had a wide grin on her face. "Come on in, sis!" she gleefully shouted. "I have prepared the cutest bow that would look just adorable on the end of your pigtail… or maybe on your tail? You can choose!"

"Ack! Wendy!" Ranma sputtered as she climbed to her feet. "I told you, I'm not interested in that! And don't call me Ranko! I'm a boy… this is just a stupid curse!"

"Don't disappoint me, big sister!" Wendy cried with fake tears. "I'm the only girl in this family… but ever since you and Daddy visited those cursed springs, I can have a sister anytime I want!" She giggled. "We can share clothes, jewelry, makeup…"

"GAH! Keep that stuff away from me!" Ranma yelped as she jumped away from Wendy.

"Hey RanKO!" Roy snickered as he popped his head back out of his shell. "What about the dino ribs?"

"You can keep them… just keep Wendy away from me!" And she fled into the dining room, closing the door behind her.

Wendy sighed, while her brothers all snickered.

Bowser looked up from his food when his son-turned-daughter entered the room. "Ah, son! Got yourself cursed this early in the morning?"

"It was Wendy and her stupid water bubble…" Ranma grumbled as she sat down at the large marble table. She picked up a bowl of water, opened her mouth and spit a small flame at the bowl, heating the water.

"Ranma, if you can't dodge simple bubbles, you can't expect to dodge fireballs someone is shooting at you," the koopa king sighed as he watched how Ranma poured the hot water over her head, turning back into a male in the process. "To be honest, I did not just ask you to have breakfast with me for breakfast reasons… hmm… well, how do I put this…"

"Out with it, Pops!" Ranma said.

Bowser sighed. "Ranma, you are almost 17 years old… when Ludwig was your age, I gave him command over his first batallion of Koopatrols."

"I already told you, I don't need no troops," Ranma muttered. He didn't like letting others fight for him. Why commanding troops in battle if you can do the fighting yourself?

"Yes, you told me… and that's not what I wanted to say. Hmmm… Ranma, do you know how old I was when I kidnapped my first princess?"

'His first princess?' Ranma wondered. He couldn't think of any other princess his father had ever kidnapped besides Princess Peach. "Get to the point, Pops!"

"I mean… you are now old enough, Ranma. I know you are strong and you are a good trainer for the soldiers. But I think it's time you find out just how it is to go out and follow our family's tradition. Staying in a castle and commanding your troops is one thing… but stepping out into the world to find a suitable target… a princess that can never escape your clutches… maybe a rich princess… with a big kingdom… that's what makes you a royal koopa… my son!"

"Wait a minute… you want me to go and kidnap a princess?" Ranma asked with disbelief.

"Just one princess, Ranma," Bowser sighed. "That's all I'm asking for."

"Oh… and what princess did you have in mind? Not Princess Peach?"

"No! No!" Bowser said quickly, waving his scaly hands. "Peach is taboo! Only I am allowed to kidnap her, understood? No, I want you to find another one."

"Just how many princesses do you think are out there?"

"I'm sure you'll find one. Maybe Princess Daisy. Sure, her boyfriend is a wimp… but she makes up for it by being pretty feisty herself." He grinned.

"I'm not kidnapping any princess…" Ranma frowned. "That always gave you trouble in the past. Remember how often our castle was demolished by your battles with the plumbers? Remember how many coins we had to spend to rebuild it every time? And don't let me start on the bill for the drawbridges…"

"Ranma, you cannot refuse this! This is a family tradition! Can't you see the glory of the victory when you manage to grip her in your powerful hold? The gloating in front of your enemy? Having a helpless damsel stuck in your dungeon?" A grin appeared on Bowser's face.

Ranma rolled his eyes. He knew that grin well. It always appeared when his father came up with a new plan to kidnap Princess Peach, invade the Mushroom Kingdom or defeat Mario. "Pops… forget it… I don't wanna get myself beaten countless times the way you do…"

"You can't talk to your father like that, Ranma!" Bowser grumbled.

"Well, it's the truth! I mean, how often do we have to act along? How often do we have to be part of your plans? Stealing the magic wands of the kings, fighting the Mario Brothers in fortresses… you even pulled Junior into this!"

"Junior enjoys helping me with my plans much more than any of you do," Bowser said.

"Yeah, because YOU put that idea in his head that Peach could be a good mother for him!" Ranma shouted as his protectiveness of his youngest sibling came to the surface. "I can already see him becoming a smaller version of you… do you remember the last time you tried that 'galactic ruler' plot again and stole all those Power Stars? Junior cried three nights long because Mario defeated him so often. He's just a kid, Pops! And you make him control giant battle robots!"

"It was his choice…" Bowser grumbled. "And I'd like to point out that Iggy constructed those robots… listen Ranma… I'm not telling you to follow in my footsteps. I promise, you can do what you want… but PLEASE do me this favor… just kidnap one princess. Just ONCE!"

Ranma sighed. Seeing his father like this annoyed him to no end. "Fine… all right… I'll go looking for one today… now get up from the floor and stop groveling! That's embarassing!"

"Oh, you made me happy, my son!" Bowser laughed as he jumped back to his feet, making the walls shake.

'Once he found a suitable princess, he will grow to like it,' the koopa king told himself. 'And in the end, he will do his best to help me kidnap Peach and beat those pesky Mario Brothers, I'm sure of it!'

After breakfast, Ranma left the dining room with a sigh. "He actually talked me into doing it… well, guess I better get it over with fast. Now the only question is: Where could I find a suitable princess?"

* * *

"Akane! Akane, where are you?"

Queen Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, stepped out onto the balcony and looked down into the courtyard of her castle, searching for her only niece. In her hand, she was holding a pale yellow dress, almost as beautiful as the pink dresses she always wore.

All she could see down below were a couple of Toads repairing the courtyard fountain, and her own daughter, holding a silver watering can, pouring some water over the flowers. She was also wearing a dress, however hers was dark blue. Instead of a crown, she wore a shiny tiara on her forehead. Her brown hair fell onto her shoulders in a long ponytail.

"Kasumi," Peach called. "Kasumi, have you seen Akane?"

Kasumi looked up from her work and shook her head. "No, mother. The last time I saw her today was at breakfast."

"Well, where could she have run off to?" Peach sighed desperately. "I have this wonderful dress I wanted to give her as a present… the color scheme fits so nicely to her own mother's dress."

Kasumi sighed. She knew her cousin pretty well… in fact, she and Akane were so close that you could almost call them sisters. Their personalities, however, were as different as they could be. Kasumi was as prim and proper as her mother, the exact way how everyone was expecting a princess to be.

Akane, on the other hand, was pretty wild and tomboyish, even moreso than her own mother, the Queen Daisy of Sarasaland, Peach's best friend. She had an adventurous streak and was exceptionally skilled with the hammer… even though she could not jump as high as her father, Luigi.

"Mother, I believe Akane ran off because she knew you wanted to give that dress to her," Kasumi politely pointed out. "You know how she is."

"But she always wears those overalls from her father," Peach said with a frown. "A princess should behave as people expect of her. She should leave adventuring to the adventurers."

"You mean Father and Uncle Luigi?" Kasumi asked. "But Mother… wasn't there a time when you joined them as they fought the evil nightmare king, Wart? Or when you and Father teamed up with Bowser to fight Smithy? And what about the time when you saved them both…"

"Young lady, that is quite enough!" Peach told her daughter in a stern voice. "Those were… special circumstances. I fought because I had no choice."

Kasumi sighed and nodded. Her mother was stubborn like that. Kasumi knew from her father that her mother had in fact enjoyed the times she had gone out adventuring. But she was too well-behaved to tell her that, so she just continued with the garden work.

* * *

Out in the green hills behind Toad-Town, the teenage princess of Sarasaland was doing what she preferred over castle life and government policies: She trained using her hammer by bashing Piranha Plants that had infested the pipes of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Unlike her cousin/almost-sister Kasumi, she wore a blue overall from the wardrobe of her father, over a pale yellow shirt. On her head, on top of her short hair, she wore a hat of the same color, with a capital 'A' on it. This had been a present of her uncle Mario to her last birthday… and she was mighty proud to wear it. Like her father and uncle, she wanted to become a famous shell-thrower, Goomba-stomper and pipe-crawler.

Too bad the Koopa Kingdom had become unusually quiet over the past few years…

Akane ducked under a fireball a Venus Firetrap had spat into her direction, jumped up and hit the carnivorous, fire-breathing plant with her wooden mallet. "Take THIS!" She shouted. The plant squeaked weakly as it disappeared into its pipe.

Akane wiped her brow. "Well, pretty good, if I may say so." When she heard clapping, she turned around.

She frowned when she saw a slightly older girl standing behind her, wearing an outfit similar to her own… even though it was colored orange and had a capital 'N' on the hat.

"Pretty good hit, cousin," the girl smiled.

"Nabiki?" Akane wondered. "What are you doing here?" She then frowned. "Did Uncle Wario send you?"

"He doesn't even know I'm here, businesswoman's honor!" Nabiki said. She came closer. "Dad's business can run itself for one or two days. I don't need to look after it all the time."

"Are you saying the job has become too much for you?" Akane asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Nabiki was working as the marketing manager at the mini-game producing company Wario Ware, owned by her father Wario, an old rival of the Mario Brothers. Saying that Nabiki had a knack for business work was an understatement… ever since she joined the company's staff, the sale of mini-games had skyrocketed exceptionally.

"You should know me better, little cousin," Nabiki smirked. "Marketing never becomes too much for me! However, seeing my father sitting on his posterior all day long, stuffing himself with garlic and being rude to the employees can be… distracting. That's why I came here to relax a little."

Akane nodded. She knew Nabiki's father and his behavior all too well. She was also glad that she and Nabiki were getting along much better than their fathers. "Can't Auntie Mona talk some sense into Uncle Wario?"

"My Mom?" Nabiki huffed. "Sure, when she isn't busy delivering pizzas, working in the ice cream parlor or practicing with that music band of hers… I really wish she would finally decide on one profession…" Nabiki definitely got the good looks of her mother… but her sense of business, she got from her father. She always liked to say that she got the best from both of them.

"Say, I've noticed that hammer of yours isn't exactly in the best condition… I see some splinters…"

It was true. Until her father agreed to buy her a new hammer, she was forced to use his old, wooden one. Too bad he refused to give her his Super or Ultra Hammer instead… but he always told her that she wasn't ready for that yet.

"You know, Wario Ware is not just selling mini-games…" Nabiki said with a glint in her eyes. "We just opened the new tool shop in our lobby… we have wooden mallets for sale, fresh from the factory, only 50 gold coins!"

Akane facefaulted. "You just can't stop it, can you?" she mumbled. "And 50 coins? Do I look like I have a multi-coin block as a purse?"

"That's a special offer because I see you and Kasumi as my cousins," Nabiki said. "Decide quickly before they're sold out."

Akane thought about it. She was saving coins for that new Poltergust 5000… but having a brand new hammer was pretty tempting.

"A Poltergust, eh? You trying to step into Daddy's footsteps, Akane?" Nabiki asked with a smirk.

Akane grimaced. "Oh, shut up… I know he's not the bravest around ghosts but at least he's very good when faced with a…

"Excuse me," a voice behind them spoke up. "But is this the way to Toad-To…"

"PARAKOOPA!" Akane shouted as she jumped up into the air and smacked her hammer into the shell of the winged turtle that had sneakily approached Nabiki from behind. The Parakoopa let out a yelp as he was soaring towards the horizon.

Nabiki whistled. "Nice shot! I didn't even hear him come up behind me. I wonder what he wanted, though…"

"Now what did you do that for?" a voice spoke up. "Pops always smacks up his minions, too, but he was just asking for the way."

Akane and Nabiki turned their heads… and saw a tall, muscular Koopa boy with a spiked shell and a black pigtail standing behind them.

"Who… who's that?" Akane muttered.

"Um, I'm Ranma Koopa," the Koopa prince said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry 'bout this."


	2. Hyrule Sparring Match

Loud clanging noises echoed though the courtyard, as one blade hit the other. The two swordsmen followed each other's movements closely, slowly circled each other and waited for their opponent's next move.

Then the green-clothed warrior thrusted his sword forward in a sudden movement that came with no warning. It hit the youngster in front of him in the right shoulder, and even though the thick padded leather of the training armor protected him, it still hurt.

Link lowered his wooden training blade and sternly looked at his only son. "You need to keep your guard up, Ryoga. You are strong, but strength alone doesn't help you when your enemy is swift.

Ryoga, son of the Hero of Time, and also prince of Hyrule, winced as he rubbed his sore shoulder. "Well yeah, but I doubt I'll ever be able to predict your attacks, Dad… you're the best swordsman I've ever seen."

Link chuckled. The blonde, middle-aged man sheathed his training sword and said: "There are always some that are better. Keep that in mind, boy!"

"When you boys are finished with training, you can come inside for lunch." They both turned around to see Ryoga's beautiful mother standing there, Queen Zelda of Hyrule.

Ryoga smiled. "In a minute, Mom. First I wanted to ask… Dad, that Helm Splitter move you showed me the other day… can you teach me?"

Link laughed. "Ryoga, you've still got a lot more to learn until I can teach you the more advanced techniques."

"But I already know how to use the Spin Attack and…"

"The Spin Attack is one of the most basic attacks, son. Before you can think of trying the Helm Splitter, you need to master the Shield Attack and Back Slice."

Ryoga sullenly looked at his feet. "You know I'm not so good with a shield…" he muttered.

"Knowing how to use a shield is fundamental if you want to use the Helm Splitter. Now, you heard your mother… get out of that training gear, clean up and come to lunch."

While Ryoga stayed in the courtyard to remove the heavy training armor, his parents walked back inside.

"How is he doing?" the queen asked as she took the hand of her commoner husband.

"Well, he is a fast learner… and he definitely is stubborn. I think he will make a great warrior," Link said with a proud smile.

Zelda tilted her head. "That's not what I meant, Link. Ryoga… he is also the prince of Hyrule, you know? And I know my position as the queen does not always allow me to be with my son as often as I wish I could… but I have eyes in my head. I can see when something worries my child. I really wonder… is he happy?"

Her husband sighed. "I know what you mean. Ryoga tries his best to become a good swordsman, but… that is really all he focuses on. I know my childhood couldn't possibly be compared to his own…" Link had to smile when he recalled his happy days back in Kokiri Forest. "But I know I always had friends. Ryoga… he has no one of his own age."

"No friends, and unfortunately no cute girlfriend either," Zelda sighed. "Maybe I should invite a sovereign of a neighboring country… I know Queen Elincia has this darling young daughter…"

"So that's what this is all about," Link smirked. "You want to set our son up with a girl."

Zelda blushed a little. "W-well, why not? It's natural for a mother to worry about her son's future. And I want him to be happy, with a wife of his own, a family and his own children he can teach some day… just like you are teaching him."

Link comfortingly put an arm around her. "He just needs some time, Zelda. I'm sure he will find someone eventually."

Then he thought of something. "Say… is it really wise to leave Ryoga alone in the courtyard? I mean… what if he doesn't find the way to the dining room by himself?"

"Oh, now you are just mocking him," Zelda chuckled. "He's not THAT lost…"

* * *

"Let's see…" Ryoga muttered as he walked along the corridor. "Which door was it again… this one? No, that's the armory. Or that one? But wasn't that the wine cellar?" He thought about it. The cellar WAS in the basement… wasn't it?

His inability to find his own way, his lack of orientation annoyed him to no end. No scholar had ever been able to say just why the queen's son was suffering from such a poor sense of direction. Some even whispered that it might a curse of the goddesses, because his father, a man not of noble blood, married the princess of Hyrule.

"Heck, I'll just go through here," Ryoga grumbled and reached for a door. He opened it… and found himself standing outside. Next to him were the flowing waters of the channel that surrounded the castle. He sweatdropped as he realized that he just used the back entrance for the servants.

"I'll just follow the channel to the front gate and ask one of the guards to escort me to the dining room," he sighed. "That shouldn't be too hard."

However, he followed the channel in the wrong direction and circled almost the entire castle before reaching the front gate.

"Finally," he said. "Now to get some lunch…"

"Excuse me…" a soft and gentle voice behind him spoke up. "But are you, perchance, Prince Ryoga?"

Ryoga looked up to see a huge boar standing in front of the castle gate. Its backside and even part of its snout were covered with a hard, metal plating. The castle guards were eyeing the beast cautiously, but didn't raise their weapons. Of course, it wasn't the boar that had spoken. On its back, there was a slender girl that looked like it was about Ryoga's age. She had the desert clothing of the Gerudo as well as a long spear that was attached to the huge boar's saddle. One thing Ryoga noticed about her were the twin-streaks of pink in her otherwise dark hair.

"Who are you?" Ryoga demanded to know. He turned to face the guards. "Guards! Why is there a giant beast in front of the castle?"

"Your Highness… she arrived here five minutes ago, accompanied by Sage Nabooru. Apparently, the… pig is their steed. The corporal just went inside with the sage to inform your mother, the queen."

"Mother asked me to wait here," the girl explained in her sweet voice. "And don't worry about Katsunishiki, he won't hurt anyone unless I say so." She gently petted the boar's nose.

"Your… wait a minute… you're Nabooru's daughter?"

"That's true," she nodded. "My name is Akari. And you are Prince Ryoga, right?"

"Um… yes, that's true. Sorry for being so rude, but you really surprised me there. And that pig… that's a Bullbo, isn't it? The wild Bulblins use them as mounts."

"That's true, but this one was mistreated by his former owner. That fat Bulblin chief…" Akari explained. "I simply couldn't stand to see a majestic pig like this being mistreated, so I intervened."

"You faced a Bulblin leader in battle?" Ryoga said in a surprised voice.

Akari giggled. "Of course! We Gerudo are warrior women, don't you know? Mom trained me in combat since I was eight."

"Oh… right…" Ryoga muttered. "So… did your mother come here for a special reason? Doesn't happen too often that the other sages, except for Rauru and Impa, come to the castle. Not unless something urgent has happened."

"My mother didn't tell me everything," Akari sighed. "She just said that she needed to speak with Queen Zelda about something important, and that I had to come with her. And now I have to wait until she returns back… it's so boring."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come in?" Ryoga said. "I'm sure my mother won't mind."

"My mother told me to wait… but if you are so worried about me getting bored, how about a friendly spar?" she smiled and pointed at the training sword he was still holding. "I'm sure you're not just carrying that for show."

"Spar?" Ryoga asked in surprise. "I mean… are you sure?"

"What, are you afraid you might lose?" Akari smirked as she slid out of the saddle.

"N-no, that's not it! But… I wouldn't want to hurt you…"

"Aw, you're a gentleman. But don't worry, I think I can defend myself just fine," she winked as she took her spear from her saddle and twirled it around.

A smile then appeared on Ryoga's face. It had been a long time since he faced someone besides his father in battle. "Well, fine… then show me what you got!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Sage Nabooru was talking to Queen Zelda and her husband, the hero Link, in the throne room.

"And you are absolutely certain?" Zelda gasped after having listened to the Gerudo's story. "And your daughter's father…"

Nabooru nodded. "There is no doubt about his identity. I admit, I wanted to keep it a secret at first." She sighed. "But know that she's older, she's showing signs… signs of power, which she could have only inherited from one person."

Queen Zelda shuddered as she whispered a name: "Ganondorf…"

"It's good you came to inform us about this, Nabooru," Link nodded. "The villain might be trapped behind the seal you and the other sages created, but his power is too dangerous, too destructive to keep unchecked… where is the girl now?"

"I told her to wait outside," Nabooru explained. "I wanted you to know the full truth before she meets you."

"Does… she know the truth, Nabooru?" Link asked her.

The Gerudo leader shook her head. "No… I don't think I could explain this to her…"

"Doesn't she deserve to know the truth?" Zelda asked with a frown.

"Well, what am I supposed to tell her? I'm sorry, sweetie, but your father is an evil warlord who raped me while I was a mindless puppet under the control of his two ugly henchman witches?" She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Oh yes, I'm sure she'd understand that…"

"Those… powers," Link spoke up. "How often have they materialized?"

"Three or four times, I think," Nabooru said. "Every time, it happened during our training. I decided to only spar with her myself since then… I don't want to know what would happen if the other Gerudos found out what she is capable of doing… her powers always manifest when she's under stress, you know?"

* * *

Akari blocked Ryoga's sword swipe with the shaft of her spear, took a step backwards and countered with a sudden thrust.

Ryoga barely managed to dodge that attack. He smirked. "You're pretty good, but I'm just getting started."

She laughed. "So do I."

The guards watched the sparring match between the prince of Hyrule and the Gerudo princess with interest. Sometimes, they would comment a daring maneuver with an approving grunt.

'She's good… not as good as Dad, of course, but enough to keep me on my toes,' Ryoga thought to himself. 'I guess it's time to put Dad's lesson into use…'

"Try to block this!" he grinned when he drew black his blade and suddenly spun it around in a wide circle. But to his surprise, she simply jumped over it.

"The Spin Attack… the most infamous of your father's techniques," she smiled as she landed on her feet. "I learned to counter this one year ago. But do you know THIS move?" Just like Ryoga, she drew back her weapon, gathering strength. But just when Ryoga assumed she was going to use a Spin Attack of her own, she jumped up into the air, raised the spear high over her head and slammed it down on the ground, creating a small shockwave. Taken by surprise, Ryoga stumbled back.

"The Jump Strike," Akari explained. "Developed by a swordfighter, but the Gerudos have adapted their own version into their spear-fighting repertoire." She grinned with excitement when she realized that she had mastered a technique the prince of Hyrule had yet to learn.

In her excitement, she didn't notice how her hands began glowing purple. Unconsciously, dark energies were projected from her fingers through her spear, into the ground, where it gathered at the tip of her spear. It came as a surprise for both of them when suddenly, the energy came bursting forth, resulting in a much bigger shockwave of purple energy. It blew Ryoga right off his feet and onto the ground. Dark flashes of energy were painfully surging through his body, making him grunt in pain.

Akari gasped and dropped her spwear in shock. "Oh no…" she whispered. "No no no… I didn't meant to do that… not again…"

"Those are… the powers of evil!" one of the soldiers gasped. They drew their swords and pointed them at the frightened girl. "She put an evil hex on our prince… get her!"

Then the main gate opened."Lower your swords!" Link spoke in a commanding voice as he stepped outside, followed by Zelda and Nabooru.

The guards looked back at him in surprise. "But sir, she just…"

"We all saw what happened. Follow your orders, soldier!" Zelda commanded.

Not wanting to refuse a direct order of their queen, the guards lowered their swords. Zelda ran to her son's side, knelt down beside him and put her palm on his chest. Warm, soothing light came streaming from her hands and drove away the darkness. Ryoga took a deep breath as he relaxed visibly.

Nabooru approached her daughter, followed by Link. Akari's eyes darted from one to the other and she stuttered in a frightened voice: "Mother, I… I didn't mean to… it was an accident! Please believe me, sir!" she addressed Link.

"Calm down!" Link spoke. "No one is going to punish you… your mother and I already talked about your… special abilities." He sternly looked at her. "However… something must be done to keep those powers of yours under control. We can't be having outbursts like that again, endangering other people."

Akari lowered her head with a sigh while her mother comfortingly put a hand on her shoulder. Then she walked over to Link and whispered: "Easier said than done… none of us is a wizard of dark magic… who can possibly teach her to keep her powers under control?"

"Are you feeling better, Ryoga?" Zelda asked as her son groggily climbed back to his feet.

Ryoga shook his head. "Yeah, I'm okay now, Mom… but what in Din's name happened there?"

"I didn't want to hurt you," Akari cried into her hands. "Please forgive me…"

Suddenly Ryoga felt bad for ever doubting she wouldn't fight with fair methods. He carefully approached her and calmly said: "Hey, hey… it's all right. I'm not mad at you. Stuff like that happens."

"R… really?" she asked, looking up at him through teary eyes.

"Heck yeah!" he grinned. "I remember one day when during my training, I accidentally punched Dad through a wall. Guess I didn't know my own strength back then."

Akari smiled. Then she surprised everyone by giving Ryoga a sudden hug. "Thank you!" she happily shouted. "You… you're so kind… and strong… just like a pig…"

Ryoga then facefaulted. "A… a pig?" He looked at Katsunishiki in confusion, who could only grunt in response.


	3. Unwanted Companions

The asteroid field... a dangerous place even for skilled space pilots. Hundreds of rocks and boulders of varying sizes were floating here next to each other, creating a hazardous obstacle for any ship that tried to fly through this part of the Lylat System. Anyone who decided to fly through here without a good reason was generally viewed as crazy.

A single laser shot came flying through the darkness of space and reduced one of the smaller asteroids into thousand tiny fragments. A small, fast spacecraft then came flying past. It resembled one of Team Starfox's legendary Arwings, even though its color scheme was white and purple.

"That was good shot, no?" the female pilot of the ship smirked. Through her communicator, she spoke with the pilot of the other, similar-looking ship that was following her. "Mousse no agree?"

On the small monitor situated in-between her flight instruments, a face covered with white feathers and a pair of very thick flying goggles appeared. "Please be more careful, Shampoo," the humanoid, teenaged bird told the young, lavender-furred fox-girl. "We really shouldn't have taken this route."

"You is scaredy bird, Mousse!" the girl spoke in heavily accented Lylatian. "Shampoo is not afraid… she is proud and brave pilot. Father taught me well!"

"W-well, your father also told us not to fly through the asteroid field," Mousse replied. "So did my parents and your great-grandmother, by the way. If anything happened to you… I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, my love!"

"Shampoo is NOT Mousse's girlfriend!" the teenaged fox snapped. "Wish father hadn't told me to take you along… you is annoying and can't even fly right without special goggles frog-boy made for you."

"Well, I haven't seen my parents in a while either…" Mousse muttered.

He was right. Both teenagers lived on planet Cerinia, together with Shampoo's great-grandmother, Cologne, who was a wise and powerful priestess on her home planet. Shampoo lived with her because of two reasons: One, her parents barely had the time to care for her, as they were both members of a mercenary team that frequently accepted missions from the government on Corneria, the biggest planet in the Lylat System. The second reason was they were afraid for their daughter's safety… especially her mother, a beautiful, blue-furred vixen called Krystal who was a skilled telepath as well as a good pilot. So Cologne decided to take care of the girl's upbringing and education, and she only visited her parents during her vacation. One of the unfavorable results of this arrangement was that Shampoo was only fluent in Cerinian, the native tongue of her mother's home planet. Still, during the past few visits on Corneria, her father Fox McCloud, the leader of Team Star Fox, had started training her to be just as skilled in piloting a spacecraft as her parents are.

Mousse, on the other hand, was not originally from Cerinia. His father was another Star Fox member called Falco Lombardi, and his mother an independent pilot called Katt. When he first saw Shampoo during one of her visits, he was instantly smitten with the young vixen and began courting her. However, Shampoo was not too impressed by him, partly because of his bad eyesight, which can only be corrected by a special pair of pilot goggles created by the skilled engineer of the team, Slippy Toad. Mousse still wasn't willing to give up on her and decided to follow her to planet Cerinia. Realizing that nothing he said would stop his son, Falco allowed him to go with her. After he talked with Fox and Cologne about it, it was decided that Mousse would also get some of the same training Shampoo received on Cerinia from her great-grandmother… while he wasn't able to use the same supernatural abilities Shampoo and her mother owned, he soon became adept in the native fighting skills of the Cerinian warriors.

"No asteroid will make dent in Shampoo's ship," the young vixen said with pride in her voice as she petted the controls of her craft. "Shampoo too good as a pilot… and Foxpaw too good as a ship."

She was pretty proud of her space fighter. It was a gift to her eighteenth birthday, created by Slippy Toad, modelled after the original Arwings her father and his teammates were using. This was the first time she used it to fly from Cerinia to Corneria all by herself… well, with Mousse as a companion, who was also flying a modified Arwing of his own.

"If you don't want to fly in oh-so dangerous asteroid field, why stupid Mousse follow Shampoo after all?" she asked.

"Shampoo, I would never let you go in any danger all by yourself!" Mousse told her.

"Hmph…" Shampoo frowned. "Whatever… if you want to come along, you let Shampoo have her fun, okay?"

The nearly-blind avian sighed and nodded. "Still… shouldn't we get going? Your father will be wondering where we are…"

Shampoo rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that Mousse had a point. If her father found out that she used the meteors here for target practice, he would give her a harsh scolding… followed by another scolding of her mother.

"All right, we leave… but you never tell parents where we've been, or Shampoo will perform old Cerinian punishment rite great-grandmother told her about on Mousse!" And with those words, she turned her Foxpaw around and flew in the direction of planet Corneria.

* * *

In Corneria's orbit… the Great Fox, flagship of the all-famous Starfox Team, multiple savior of the Lylat System.

A pair of small spacecrafts came zooming through outer space, towards the much bigger ship. As they approached, their speed decreased and they slowly flew into the small opening on the Great Fox's front, into the hangar.

"Hangar main hatch closed," a robotic voice echoed through the hangar. "Deactivating gravity shield. Arwings landed safely… security locks engaged!"

When Shampoo and Mousse left their ships, they could already see a group of familiar people standing next to the hangar door. All active members of the Starfox Team were assembled… Their leader, Fox McCloud, Shampoo's father… the team's telepath, Krystal McCloud, her mother… ace pilot Falco Lombardi, Mousse's father… and Slippy Toad, genius mechanic.

Shampoo smiled as she climbed out of the Foxpaw and came running at her parents. "Mom!" she shouted.

Krystal smiled as the younger and the older vixen hugged each other. Shampoo looked very much like a younger version of her mother, except that her fur was lavender and her head hair much longer. "Welcome home, honey!"

Mousse followed her, giving the adults a respectful nod. His father smirked at them. "Hey there, kiddos! You're late! We thought you might have gotten lost or something."

"You did fly the route over Katina, as I told you, didn't you, Shampoo?" Fox asked her.

"Of course I did, father!" Shampoo said in an indignant voice. "What you take me for?"

Fox frowned. "Your Lylatian still hasn't improved… didn't you study during the past few weeks?"

"Shampoo study really important stuff," Shampoo proclaimed proudly. "Learn about Cerinian rituals, history and martial arts."

The leader of Starfox groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Krystal… you talk to her. She doesn't listen…" he muttered.

Krystal sighed. "Shampoo, dear… you are a child of two different cultures. You really shouldn't neglect your father's heritage like this."

"But Shampoo doesn't!" the McCloud daughter protested. "Know how to fly Foxpaw and use weapons." Her hand petted the small blaster hanging from her belt. "Cornerian language just not interesting."

"Cornerian culture is not just about ships, weaponry and the language, kid," Krystal gently scolded her.

"She's right, there's also the night life, the bars and the street races," Falco said with a smirk.

Fox gave his old friend an annoyed look which clearly spoke: 'Not funny, Falco.'

"What?" Falco asked. "I don't see why training and studies have to be the only important part of her life… she's a teen, she has the right to have some fun now and then… as have you, son!" He gave Mousse a friendly pat on the back, then pulled him a bit aside. "Hey… you already asked her out?"

"Dad!" Mousse hissed in a panicking voice. "Not so loud! And no… she wouldn't even want to eat an of her meals in the same room as me." He sadly lowered his beak.

"Just give her some time. I have a friend working in that one bar in the lower district of Corneria City… buy her a drink, talk to her. She'll like it."

But Mousse shook his head and sighed. "I'm afraid not, Dad… she… she has…"

Falco listened as his son muttered something unintelligible. "She has WHAT? Speak up, I can't understand you."

"I SAID SHAMPOO ALREADY HAS SOMEONE!" Mousse yelled.

Everyone looked at him. The adults with slack-jawed expressions, Shampoo with a furious glare. "Mousse! You no supposed to say that!"

"Now what is this about, young lady?" Krystal asked sternly. She grabbed her daughter's shoulders and turned her around so she could look into her eyes. "Shampoo… is that true? And don't try lying to me, I'm still a better telepath than you are."

The young vixen gritted her teeth. "Mousse… is right…" she grumbled. "Shampoo has Airen…"

"Airen? What's that?" Slippy asked.

"It's Cerinian for husband," Krystal sighed. "Shampoo… you are much too young to decide on something like this yet. You need an Elder's acceptance before you can marry… and you haven't even told us!"

"Great-grandmother knows," Shampoo shrugged as if that was enough of an explanation. "She says strong husband good for tribe."

"That's the only reason why you took a boyfriend?" Fox asked with disbelief. "Who is this boy anyways?"

"Happened last year… when Shampoo was on way back to Cerinia. Got into a solar storm… blew Foxpaw off-route. Couldn't find way back for hours… landed on big, floating rock. There Shampoo saw Airen…" She couldn't help but smile at the memory. "He tall, strong and good-looking… black hair, powerful tail, with handsome shell on back… he tried hiding some big, glowing star…"

"He tried hiding an entire sun?" Slippy's eyes widened.

Shampoo shook her head. "No no… was a star-shaped object, glowing like forcefield generator. Said he was hiding it from fat plumber-man…" She shrugged. "But Shampoo saw he strong, so Shampoo challenge him to battle. Airen beat Shampoo… so, according to Cerinian law, he must marry Shampoo!" She grinned.

"Krystal…" Falco muttered as he raised an eyebrow. "I've said it multiple times and I'll say it again: Your people have some weird rules and customs."

"I know, I know…" Krystal groaned. Grandmother Cologne… she must have put those ideas in her head. I'm really not sure if leaving her on Cerinia for all that time was such a wise decision, Fox…"

"Okay, young lady!" Fox said as he stepped in front of his daughter. "Listen closely… Before you decide to do anything else in this matter… I want to meet that young man. So… where did you meet him, which planet is he from, how old is he and what's his name?"

Shampoo smiled. "It's Ranma!"

* * *

In an entirely different area of outer space…

A slightly more bulky, but still sleek spaceship was speeding along the outer frontiers of the Galactic Federation territory.

Piloting the ship was a teenage girl with long, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail (held in place by a white bow), wearing the private class soldier armor of the GF army.

Ukyo Aran sighed wearily as she took a look at the ship's internal clock, showing the galactic time, measured by GF standards.

"Took me almost two Norion hours to fly out here," she mumbled. "I've heard the annoying beeping of the distress call nonstop, even while the ship was on autopilot and I was trying to sleep, so I know I didn't just imagine it… so the only question that remains is: Where the bloody hell did it come from?"

She looked out of the cockpit. In front of her, she saw nothing but the vast emptiness of space… an ocean of stars, space nebulas, and the occasional comet. What she didn't see was an inhabitable planet, space station or any ship that could have sent the distress signal.

"Mom told me she used to get at least three of these a month, back in her days…" Ukyo muttered to herself. "But she never told me their sources would be so hard to find."

She checked her radar and the astrological maps to make sure she was actually on the right track, then she sighed and turned to face a cubical device standing in the back area of the cockpit.

'I hate these modern food replicators,' she thought as she pressed a button to activate the machine. 'They can never produce some real Okonomiyaki… I wish I could have taken my grill with me…'

"Hot ramen," she told the replicator. The machine stuttered and coughed… and then it sneezed.

"Bless you!" Ukyo said automatically. Then she blinked. Replicators didn't sneeze. It took her three seconds to figure out the true identity of the cubical object in front of her.

She glared at the box and crossed her arms. "Game's up, Tsubasa! I know it's you."

The replicator shimmered and wavered as if it was some sort of disrupted energy field. And then, the whole thing started changing form, its whole mass flowing into the shape of something else… until a seemingly cute young girl in a similar uniform as Ukyo stood in front of her. A girl with bright pink skin.

Tsubasa giggled sheepishly. "Oh, eheheheh… hi there, Ukyo darling…"

"Tsubasa!" Ukyo yelled at the shapeshifter. "You make me so mad sometimes… wait, make that every time! I'm not even gonna ask how you were able to sneak aboard my ship… but did you honestly take that form for almost two days? With no food and water?"

"Phyrigians can go without nourishment for weeks, if they have to," Tsubasa explained with a grin. "And well, as I'm half Phyrigian…"

"I'd like to freeze you into an icicle and throw you out into space, just to get rid of you!" Ukyo snarled as her fingers nervously played with the Freeze Gun hanging from her hip. "Just because I know you'd survive the cold."

"Maybe the cold, but not the vacuum…" Tsubasa muttered. "But my darling Ukyo…"

"Stop calling me that!" the young GF private snapped.

"Ukyo… there are two very good reasons why I'm here."

"And those two reasons would be?"

"Well, first, I was worried… you were actually going after that distress signal all by yourself… you would have gone even if the commander didn't authorize your flight out here."

'Maybe he isn't such a big idiot after all…' Ukyo thought. "And the second reason?"

Tsubasa grinned. "The second reason is the most important one: You and I are meant to be together always, my darling!"

Ukyo groaned and facepalmed. "I take it back… he is an idiot after all…"

"C'mon," the crossdressing, shapeshifting half-breed alien smiled, cuddling up to Ukyo's side. "Admit you're glad I'm here. I have cryokinetic powers just like Dad and can turn into anything I can think of, just like Mom. I could be a big help!"

She sighed. "Fine, alright… but only because I don't have the time to bring you back to Norion first. But I'm informing the commander about this as soon as we return!"

"As long as we stay together…"

"Cut that out!" she growled and pushed him aside. "Now, you can help me by observing the radar. Tell me if you find anything."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Tsubasa asked.

"Any place from where a distress signal could have come from. A ship, a space base… anything! I know the signal came from this sector."

"But no one lives here, this far away from the center of the known galaxy," Tsubasa pointed out. "Why are you so intent on finding the source of that call anyway? By yourself, even? All I noticed is that you became quite agitated and implored the commander to take a ship and search for the signal's source."

"I have my reasons…" Ukyo muttered. "Personal reasons…"

"Really?" Tsubasa asked curiously. "What kind of reasons?"

"Reasons I'm not gonna tell any idiot who asks!" the girl shouted, glaring at the faux-girl.

"But I wanna knoooooww…" Tsubasa pouted cutely, pulling his hands up to his chin and giving her the puppy-dog eyes… an unnerving sight when done by a hybrid alien.

Ukyo sighed. "Argh! Fine, I'll tell you, but only because your Dad and my Mom were buddies… and keep your mouth shut about this! Got it?"

"I promise, Ukyo-darling!" the shapeshifter smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay… you know that my Mom liked to keep a lot of her adventures a secret from anyone, right? Even from me."

"I know that, but… you're her daughter! Didn't she…"

"I dunno if she didn't trust me or anything, but there are things she just didn't want me to know, apparently," Ukyo said. "Normally, I would just leave it at that… but then, a few days ago, I found something weird in the basement… I was searching for one of my old battle spatulas…"

"What was it?" Tsubasa asked, excited by the story.

"It was an old GF trooper helmet," Ukyo explained.

"What?" Tsubasa asked in a disappointed voice. "That doesn't sound too intriguing..."

"Well… it's strange enough that she'd hide a helmet like this in our house… after all, she told me she'd never work for the Federation again… but this one had a picture attached to it."

"A… picture?"

"An old photo," Ukyo nodded. "Of a man I've never seen before, standing next to what just has to be a teenaged version of my mother." She reached into a hidden pocket inside her GF powersuit and showed it to the crossdresser.

Tsubasa took a close look at the picture. "She looked a lot like you at that age," he commented. "Any idea who that man is?"

"Well, all I know is that the name 'Adam Malkovich' is written down there," Ukyo said, pointing at the picture. "The only 'Adam' I know is that artificial intelligence computer Mom has on her ship… maybe she named it after this guy, who knows."

"But what does this picture or the helmet have to do with the distress call?" Tsubasa asked.

"Listen closely," Ukyo said, pressing a button. "I'll replay the message."

At first, Tsubasa only heard static noises. But then, there was a high voice, like that of a girl or young woman speaking up: "Help… help me… I'm trapped… I can't get out… I'm on the Bottle Ship… please, inform Commander Adam Malkovich… please!"

Tsubasa looked up in bewilderment. "And… why didn't the commander want to send any troops here first?"

"I've got no idea," Ukyo grumbled. "He also told me that this is an inofficial mission… and that except for this ship and my basic equipment, I would get no support from the Federation in any way. But… I've got to find this 'Bottle Ship'… I've got to find out who sent this distress call, who this Adam Malkovich guy is and how he knew my Mom… and maybe…" She looked up and out of the cockpit, into the depth of space.

"Maybe this can help me… to find Mom."


End file.
